Following the completion of hearings on 11 September 2008, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Wednesday 15 October will give its Order on the request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by Georgia.
On 12 August 2008, Georgia instituted proceedings against the Russian Federation at the ICJ, accusing Russia of three interventions from 1990 and 2008 in violation of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
Two days later, on 14 August, Georgia submitted its request for the indication of provisional measures.
Provisional measures sought
During the public hearings in September, Georgia requested the court to order seven provisional measures “to prevent irreparable harm to the rights of ethnic Georgians” under the Convention on Racial Discrimination.
These included Russia taking all necessary measures to ensure Georgians are not subject to “violent or coercive acts of racial discrimination” (including the infliction of death or bodily harm, destruction of property and expulsion from villages in South Ossetia, Abkhazia and other adjacent regions within Georgia), and a right of return for those whom have been expelled from those regions.
On 25 August, Georgia added a further request, namely that Russia should refrain from obstructing the delivery of humanitarian assistance in the territory under its control.
Russia: ‘no jurisdiction’
For its part, the Russian Federation argued that the Court “manifestly lacks jurisdiction to entertain the case” and asked it to be removed from the ICJ’s General List.
Russia argued that if there were a dispute, it would relate to “the use of force, humanitarian law, territorial integrity, but in any case not to racial discrimination.” With respect to the request for provisional measures, Russia asserted that they cannot be granted since they would impose upon it obligations which it is not able to fulfil.
“The Russian Federation is not exercising effective control vis-à-vis South Ossetia and Abkhazia or any adjacent parts of Georgia,” it stated at the end of the oral hearings.
Georgia’s request for provisional measures was made pending the Court’s determination of the case on the merits.
Georgia v. Russian Federation
Details on attending Wednesday's public sitting
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